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Minimally Invasive Lateral Spine Surgery in Trauma

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Lateral Access Minimally Invasive Spine Surgery

Abstract

Thoracolumbar trauma patients present unique challenges to the spine surgeon, whose goals are to prevent primary or secondary neurological injury, enhance neurological recovery, stabilize the spine to promote early mobilization, and minimize surgical morbidity. Minimally invasive surgery (MIS) has become a key tool in the spine surgeon’s armamentarium in the treatment of these potentially fragile patients, as it affords an alternative to traditional open procedures and their associated increased blood loss and infection rates [1, 2]. Specifically, lateral minimally invasive spine surgery (MISS) has recently become a treatment option in this patient population. The development of minimally invasive techniques potentially allows surgeons to better treat spine trauma patients by providing early decompression or stabilization while minimizing the morbidity of surgery. In this chapter, the epidemiology of thoracolumbar spinal cord injuries will be discussed, followed by the indications for the use of lateral MISS procedures versus the conventional open anterior approaches. The surgical technique for lateral MISS will be outlined, as well as the pros and cons of this approach. Finally, a case example will detail the use of lateral MISS in clinical practice.

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Correspondence to Steven C. Ludwig MD .

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Pyun, J., Weir, T., Banagan, K., Ludwig, S.C. (2017). Minimally Invasive Lateral Spine Surgery in Trauma. In: Wang, M., Sama, A., Uribe, J. (eds) Lateral Access Minimally Invasive Spine Surgery. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-28320-3_22

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-28320-3_22

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